Corner bracket for chairs



li 5 N. c. STANTON 2,686,559 v CORNER BRACKET FOR CHAIRS Filed Dec. 21, 1948 NORMAN c. ETANTON E MM/M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CORNER BRACKET FOR CHAIRS Norman C. Stanton, Portland, Oreg.

Application December 21, 1948, Serial No. 66,405

2 Claims. 1 This invention relates to a chair of novel construction and method of making the same.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide an easy mounting means for the chair leg,

I sot-hat aj chair may be packaged and shipped in knocked-down condition and assembled at the point of destination with the use of facilities ordinarily available in the home kit of tools, while at the same time providing a leg joint which is permanent, rigid, and as substantial as the best factory assembled chair. A related object is to provide a chair leg joint construction such that a broken or damaged leg may quickly and easily be replaced by a person not particularly skilled in furniture repair.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means of mounting chair legs which provides a joint with the chair bottom equal or superior to the joints of the prior art and in which assembly can be made considerably faster than by the methods known to the prior art. Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction for joining a chair leg to the seat sup-- porting framework.

The above and still further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the leg mounting bracket as forged, cast, or extruded, all in one p1ece;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a chair leg designed for engagement with the bracket;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the underside of the chair bottom showing the bracket assembled in an inside corner of the skirting and ready for insertion of the leg from the bottom;

Figure 4 is a transverse section through the chair skirting showing a modified type of bracket, one manner of securing the bracket tothe skirting, and the vertical abutting relation of the leg to the bracket and the skirting; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the bracket made from a single piece of sheet metal.

Referring to the drawings, the novel method of chair construction will be seen to comprise a chair skirting framework III of wood and made in more or less conventional design and manner forming an inside corner I 2 which ordinarily is a right angle, although the invention is applicable to the mounting of chair legs to the skirting framework wherein the skirting forms angular corners other than right angles, or even to curved contours. A tubular metal bracket [4 is provided for mounting in said inside corner, as shown in Figures 3 and 4; said bracket having a. socket portion l6 and side walls It and 20 angularly disposed to each other to complementally engage the sides of the inside corner of the skirting framework. The walls of the tubular bracket have flange extension portions 22 and 24 provided with bores 26 for receiving screws 23, or bolts, nails, or other fastening devices, for attaching the bracket to the skirting framework. The bracket thereby serves to hold together the intersecting skirting portions forming the corner and thereby strengthens the skirting framework. The bracket is mounted preferably so that its lower end lies substantially in the plane of the lower edge of the skirting framework.

A chair leg 30 having an extension 32 at its upper end of smaller cross section than the cross section of the main body of the chair leg is provided, said extension being shaped to fit snugly and be received in the tubular socket it. The chair leg is thus provided with a shoulder 34 adjacent the extension 32, so that when the extension is received within the socket i 6 the shoul-' der 34 comes in vertical abutting engagement with the lower edge of the chair skirting as shown in dotted lines at 36 in Figure 4. It will thus be seen that the chair leg is rigidly supported with respect to the skirting framework both by engagement of the extension 32 in the tubular socket l6 and by the abutting engagement of the shoulder 34 with the skirting framework Ill. The extension may have two of its sides flush with the corresponding sides of the chair leg, or it may be recessed a little from the two inner sides of the chair leg, as illustrated in Figure 2. In such construction, which is preferred, a narrow shoulder portion 38 will also come in vertical abutting engagement with the lower edge of the bracket, as illustrated in Figure 4, thereby providing still further rigidity of support. The chair leg may be secured in the tubular socket by means of nails 40, screws, or other fastening means received through the bores 42 in the walls of the tubular socket, although the leg may preferably be held in the socket solely by friction between the walls of the socket and the extension 32.

It will readily be appreciated that a method of chair construction is provided which will enable attachment of the chair legs to the seat supporting skirting without regard to the provision of notches, grooves, routed portions, etc. for complementary engagement with ribs or other maletype structures, and without gluing or use of presses, thereby resulting in greater speed of manufacture and in consequent economy of production.

It will further be appreciated that such means of construction lends itself to the manufacture of chairs whereby the legs need not be attached at the factory, but the chair may be shipped knocked down and the legs assembled in position and secured-in place at the place of use, thereby resulting in many advantages such as saving in freight rates and shipping space. The above advantages are obtained without sacrifice of rigidity or permanence of construction, and in fact, rigidity and permanence of constructionwill often be increased over that obtainedbvtheicon struction methods of the prior art.

Replacement of the chair leg can easily be ac-r complished by removing the nails 48 or other fasteningmeans and-withdrawingthe legrand ine e -a w 0 if i h uld we e t qdi r ficult, the entire bracket maybe removed and a new bracket and-a new leg inserted It. will be understood; that the metal bracket withits tubular socket may beformed in various ways, It may be formed asan integral-unit by a. forging, casting, orextrusion process. It may be formedfrom an angle iron and a second angle iron having reverse angle side portions, as H105? trated in Figure 4. The two-members 4i. and-43- are then preferably welded together at their-abutting surfaces, although they, may merely be held in engagement with each other by the screwstB; iorretaining the bracket memberto theskirting This latter method-can be efie-ctively employed for use. in.tightening,the engagement of the tubu larsocketwith thechair leg extension 32;, which may be desired due to dryingand seasoning of the wood, by constructing extension 32; of slightly larger cross-sectional dimensions than the cor,- responding cross-sectional dimensions of; the tubular socket. With such a construction, the. screws 2;} canv be tightened from time totime asthe wood shrinks, to draw'the inside walls of the member- 43 into closer. engagementwith the extension 32.

Themetal bracket may also be shaped from asinglestrip of metal such as sheet metal. or the like as shown in Figure 5 by reverse and right no.

angle bends, The strip of metal is first bent back; upon-itselfv in a reverse bendto form a laterally; extending flange portion 22% and a socketwall portion Ito. The strip of metal-is then bent-at two successive right; angles to form wallsofthe:

socket for receiving the chair leg extension 3;. Another right angle bend-is-made away from the, socket portion, and the remaining portion then bentback upon itseli to form a second laterally,- extending flange 24a" disposed at right-angles to.

4 i the first flange 22a and to meet the starting erid of the strip and form the socket wall 20a. Tire doubled portions of the strip forming the lat.- erally extending flanges 22a and 24a are provided with bores 26a for attaching the bracket to the framework of the chair. The inner walls of the socket have bores 42a to receive screws, nails; or the like, for fastening the chair leg to the: bracket. Such a bracket construction has the; advantage of economy of manufacture and is, simple to assemble and is durable in use.

It is to be understood that the language and" x expressions which have been employed are used a as terms of description only and not of limitation, and that the invention is not limited to the exact detailsof-construction shown and described, for changes andmodifications will readily occur to persons skilled in the art.

What. is. claimed is:

1. A bracket for mounting in the inside corner a w od n he rt msha in q k t P9 tion forreceiving. theextension of-achair.- leg, said-bracket being. formedof, a strip of 1 metal by bendingthe same adjacent one-end. back uponitself to form a flange, making a rightanglebend, and a secondright angle bendto form a U-por tion with the startingend'of said strip, makinga third right angle bend andbending the remain; ing portion of saidstrip back upon itselfrtoforrna second flange disposed at right angles to said; first flange and to close said U-portionwith the last of the length of said stripto form a socket.

2. A- bracket for mounting in the inside corner of: a wooden chainskirting for receiving the-extension of a chair leg, said bracket comprising a single strip of metal havinga reverse bendforming a first flange, first and second right angle bends forming walls of a socket, the strip; of: metalbeing thenbent at a right. angle toextend away'from the socket and having a secondme; verse bend to form a wall, of the socket and: a, second flange, said second flange being disposed h :an le -ma d:ma ee.

References Gitedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name. Date 395,918 Butler Jan. 28, 1,839, 545,538 Sellers. Sept. 3, 1895 740,192 Singer Sept. 29,1903.

1,297,415, Stoll Mar;- 18,1919 1,386,733 Stollet a1. Aug; 9, 19.21, 1,389,008 Pohle Au .'30,1 9'2 i. 1,913,7c0, Band July 18,1933

FOREIGN PATENTS lflumber Country, Date.

21,488. Gr.eat Britain 1891 

